How Much do you Tip for Food Delivery?

Tipping at Restaurants: The Standards for Tipping Waiters or Waitresses

The number that keeps getting thrown out as a standard tipping percentage at restaurants is 15%. I usually stick to that, but go up to 20% if the waiter/waitress is likable and does a good job. I go down to 10% if I get below standard service. Most restaurants that add in the gratuity for large parties factor in 18% as a standard.

As a side note, if you’ve ever been out to eat with a former waitstaff, you’ll often see them go higher than 20%, because they empathize with how difficult the job is for the money.

But…. do the same rules apply to food delivery tipping?

Tipping for Food Delivery: Not as Clear Cut

While most people have heard the general guidelines for tipping waitstaff in restaurants, it’s not as clear cut for food delivery, most commonly – the pizza delivery guy. CNN suggests this for how much to tip on food delivery:

10% of the bill (excl. tax), at least $1 for bills up to $10. Should tip 15%-20% for a difficult delivery.

Here is a general guideline that I have seen offered elsewhere:

15% for normal service, with a $2 minimum; 20% for excellent service; 10% or less for poor service; at least 10% for orders of $50 or more.

My take on How Much to Tip the Delivery Person:

There are so many factors that go into it. If you have a decent size order and the place is within a mile or two of your house, I can see 10% being enough – but I’d never go under that. And if it is more than a few miles and a small order, under $10 or so, I’d probably go up to 20% or more.

One this is for sure: you should tip for food delivery. Many delivery restaurants pay minimal wages, and do not pay per delivery, so delivery staff wages are heavily reliant on your tips. Put yourself in their shoes.

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179 Comments

I agree with Jess on this one, I don’t really take into account the size of the order because it’s pretty much the same work to deliver something that is $5 or $50.

I usually just give them $3 as a flat fee regardless of what the amount is. That being said, I’m usually ordering for 1-2 people so the bill isn’t really expensive to begin with (typically under $30). So, my tips usually end up being a little over 10%.

Also, I do believe you have to take into account any delivery charge that is added to your bill by the store. I usually just add $2 if there is a delivery fee added.

I think tipping should be banned. Why don’t the restaurants raise the prices and pay the employees a decent wage instead of making them act like beggers? I’m a Senior and can’t afford to eat out very often, never at a “Good” place, just family places. I have a hard time saving to go occasionally. To have to pay someone’s wages is unfair. If they charged more I would order something less expensive and not made to feel “CHEAP” because I can’t leave a big tip.
PS I was a waitress and hated to see people feel required leave a tip!

I’m sorry, but I was under the assumption that the delivery fee went to the driver to cover his car costs. We used to have free delivery and I tipped. When they added the delivery fee I stopped tipping. A round trip to my house is less than a mile. A $3 tip + a $2 delivery fee for an $8 pizza is absurd!
The pizza places should let us know they keep the money as a way to increase the cost of pizzas!

The restaurant keeps the delivery fee. Drivers pay for all vehicle costs and frequently don’t get reimbursed properly. There have been many class action lawsuits against pizza chains because they effectively are paying drivers less than minimum wage after the drivers pay for these business expenses. It is also a much more dangerous job than waitressing.

As long as I can remember restaurants have always kept the delivery charge and the drivers only got to keep the tip. If you’re talking about what to tip on an eight dollar pizza all you would have to give the guy would be a dollar because that would be more than 10% ! Especially when you say you Live so close!

There is no way any kind of minimum wage or even 10 dollars an hour is good enough to be a server. The kind of stuff we have to put up with from people is ridiculous. If people cannot afford to tip, get to go food. They should tip for that as well, but at least then you’re not taking up time on somebody’s table when they could be serving someone who will pay a good amount for awesome service.

So young… so dumb. Delivery fees plus tips (pizza delivery drivers do not receive the same type of wages as waiters/waitresses) are outstanding. Maybe I would feel worse if they made 2.33$/hr like normal wait staff.

People don’t realize this, but if you stiff your driver repeatedly, or you are an asshole, or both, your driver WILL REMEMBER YOU. Maybe not your face, or your name, but your address. Same goes if you’re exceptionally nice and a great tipper, you will receive better service than the others.

But one thing to remember before you stiff or piss off your driver, your food is alone with them, in their car, from the time they leave the store until the time they get to your house. Little reminder.

I totally agree!!! I never received a tip from any place I’ve worked. Companies need to pay their own employees. We should not have to pay someone’s salary. We can not write it off on our taxes as an expense as the company can. So not fair.

Ps…I’m a senior as well, with poverty level income after working all my life. As you, I am very lucky to eat out,let alone get out! Delivery people should be getting the delivery fees to pay for their car expenses!

Ruth, do you enjoy having good service? Imagine going out after you saved up double the amount to go to a “family” restaurant, only to receive horrendous service? 2 things you haven’t thought about because you haven’t been a server (waitress is not what we’re called anymore.) 1; there is not 2 servers and a cook working. Almost ever. The few dollars extra most people think they’d pay so that the “waitress” is paid a “fair” wage is not accurate. During a Saturday night at my job (we aren’t in a huge city, or a very big restaurant) we usually rack up about 100 hours of labour with kitchen and service staff combined. Now split that between guests who come in… it’s not a few dollars. And what about the really good servers? They surely deserve more! So would you prefer the prices to go up and down to accommodate raises? Probably not. 2; the next thing to consider is that if serving is suddenly a job anyone can be hired for, that means ANYONE can serve you. Never been in the industry before? Doesn’t matter. Unfriendly? Doesn’t matter, because after years of paying everyone the exact same wage and servers not needing to earn their tips by working hard, you’ll end up with a bunch of complacent staff that aren’t working hard because they still get the same amount of money each week. Sure, get rid of the bad ones! But staff turnover is already high, and the places that do have an entire staff of great servers have some of the best moral and relationships with each other, making their jobs more fun and less stressful, isn’t that what most people want?

Just to let you know a pizza delivery guy in the U.S. get paid as under minimum wage as low as 4 bucks an hour. To top it off the store doesn’t pay for gas or vehicle maintenance. That comes out of the drivers pocket. A good driver will spend about $100 a week on gas alone. I’m speaking from experience. The average weekly take home of a driver is only about 300 not including gas. Do the math. Drivers have to take care of there vehicles and the cost added up.

they actually should be tipped better! Drivers didn’t bring food from the kitchen actually from 6 miles away! so imagine that your waiter concentrated on your order for at least 20 minutes straight like your delivery driver does and he has to return to the store in his own vehicle!

Wow, hope you never order from my restaurant. First most of the time delivery drivers don’t get the delivery fee. Second the industry standard is $5.00 for orders under $50 or less and 15% for orders over $50. Third you seem oblivious to the fact that what you are paying for is the service and convenience of not having to leave the comfort of your home to get your food. Are you bothering to take into consideration how far the driver has to travel to bring you your food? Are you considering the weather? You do a $3 flat fee? Please for a crappy tip like that do us all a favor and call in your order for take out and pick it up yourself.

You tip someone for doing a good job. It’s supposed to be a voluntary, occasional thing you do if you liked how you were served. Someone who’s delivering me food isn’t interacting with me whatsoever. Often times, the food is left and I don’t even get to see the driver at all. As far as I know, maybe a drone delivered my food. So then I’m not really “tipping” for service, I’m just paying wages directly. Why is it my job to pay someone’s wages if they’re not working for me? They’re working for the restaurant, the restaurant should be paying their wages. The fact that you are OBLIGATED to tip your “standard” fee is the reason why restaurant owners can defer the responsibility of paying the drivers to the customers. You are the problem, not the customers who dont tip what you think the “industry standard” is.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on this board. Only if the driver works directly for the restaurant does the restaurant pay wages (or should at least). Those are probably the restaurants who keep the delivery fee.
However, these new companies that have delivery drivers for many restaurants, are sub-contracting the drivers. The drivers do not work for the restaurants or the companies. The restaurants are paying the companies a percentage of the cost of your meal. The restaurants are paying for the convenience of not having to pay more than one full time driver. This way they have many drivers and can call as orders come in. They do not have to pay someone if their are no orders.
The drivers are working for themselves as a sub-contractor. Therefore, the restaurants are not paying their wages, neither is the company. So, those who are saying “someone just delivering my food is not interacting with me whatsoever” and feel they should not have to tip.
You have to remember this is a service you are receiving. The drivers are paying for the gas, paying for the maintenace of their vehicles, their insurance, wear and tear on their vehicles and last but not least their own taxes. This is the transit/delivery fee. They drive to the restaurant, pick up your food, drive to your house, deliver your meal and drinks to your door. This is the tip for the delivery/time and providing a service. If you do not tip the driver, they wouldn’t break even. They are not making any money. You are paying for the convenience of this service. Paying for getting food from restaurants who otherwise do not deliver. Paying for not having to go and get it yourself. You cannot expect a sub-contractor to do this for free. You should be tipping 10%-15% on top of the transit/delivery fee. Whatever the website is calling that fee. Otherwise you are ripping off the driver. Did you know this job is rated one of the top 5 most dangerous jobs in North America by insurance companies? I doubt being a waiter or waitress rates that high on the list.

It gets even more complicated with these new businesses like Skip. These delivery/courier drivers use their own vehicles, pay for the gas, wear and tear on their vehicles, then maintenance on their vehicles. They do not work for the restaurants. That is what skip calls the delivery fee. However on the courier side/app they call it the Transit fee.

Therefore if you do not tip the delivery/courier driver. As a customer you have basically just ripped them off completely! The delivery/courier driver has just driven to the restaurant, picked up your meal, delivered it to your house and to you for FREE. You have paid them nothing for their time or delivering your food.
On top of that they paid the gas to get there.

To waiters and waitresses who think they work harder than these delivery/courier drivers – GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE – You are getting 10% to 20% to bring a customers meal from the kitchen to their table. Is that smile on you face while doing it to difficult. Not saying it is not a difficult job, it is. However, don’t think that driving in rush hour traffic, getting in and out of a vehicle numerous times a day and walking up god know how many flights of stairs etc… all day is all that easy either. Yes these delivery drivers do it with a smile on their faces too.

People should be paying the delivery/transit fee – plus a 10% to 15% to these drivers. It is astonishing how many customers do not tip at all, even when there is good service. They think the delivery/transit fee is enough and it is not!

One more note: the delivery/transit fee depends on how far you are from the restaurant. If you are 4 blocks from the restaurant the delivery fee will be low. If you are 10km from the restaurant it will be much higher.

I tip. That said here is what you are failing to consider. These businesses are counting on the sale of product that would not happen without the delivery service. Service they are trying to avoid paying for while simultaneously seeking to profit from. Need I explain the problem with that?

Yes that may be so but it is still the delivery driver that pays or get penalized on all counts. If customers do not give a decent tip, they make no money.

These businesses can always find new drivers. A new driver may not stay long. They try the job and learn then leave. Therefore, even if there is a revolving door of drivers, the businesses still thrive. The restaurants thrive, the customers get their food. The delivery drivers pay, unless they get decent tips. Customers should tip 10%-15% on top of delivery/transit fee or drivers are delivering their food for free. The customers could always pick up their own food as well because drivers who stay are starting to refuse to deliver to the “no tip” and “extra low tip” houses. Imagine driving to a restaurant with their own vehicle, picking up someone’s meal, driving it 5km-10km to their home, delivering it to their door. Then getting a $1.00 tip. I wouldn’t blame any of them for not going back. It’s an insult. People who do that are arrogant and a disgrace.

Just so you know a delivery charge doesn’t go to the driver…I really don’t like delivering to people like you…3$ is offensive…and 2$….jeez. The place I work at charges a $2 delivery fee, to which I don’t see a dime…it’s to pay for the delivery drivers and buy all the equipment

Well you have to take into account delivery fees. Some delivery folks rely on tipping, others get a flat fee per delivery. If I am charged $4 for delivery, i am not going to throw more than a buck at the delivery guy.

Other things to take into account, if the person is driving their own car or a company vehicle.

i also take into account weather conditions and joviality of the delivery person.

I am not too sure that the size of the order should be a big factor though. While it takes a waitress considerable more effort to attend to and serve a $75 meal vs a $20 meal, the delivery person just puts it all in the front seat and makes a single trip, no matter how large the order is.

@ Jess – agreed on the delivery charge that’s factored in already. If it is, I don’t even know that you should tip at all. In fact, I’d love to see some standard in the industry where they just worked delivery charge in and took the guesswork out of tipping.

As a Pizza hut delivery driver, we DO NOT get delivery fees that the store charges!! When y’all. Count that as part of the tip, your doing nothing but stiffing the driver that works hard and pays for the gas to get to your house. Personally, with gas at about 3.50 a gallon, I think all tips should be at least $3, and go up from there. And cash is more apprieciated, but remember you can always add the tip to your credit card total.

Agreed. At dominos the drivers are paid $4 an hour on the road and minimum wage in the store. We charge 2.50 per delivery and the drivers do not get any. They do get some mileage but it changes constantly. Right now its about $1.40 for the initial delivery. If they take another order with them they get 1.5 times 1.40 for the total delivery. If they take three orders..they do not get any mileage. They expect at least 10-15% minimum. However because people think they get the $2.50 that goes to the company, the drivers are always getting stiffed. They use personal cars that go through quite a bit of wear ans tear.

Where I work I do every job. I take your order cook it and deliver it not to mention I do all the prep work and cleaning. Doing all that work for a $2 tip or no tip really sucks. People don’t realize some of us do more than just bring you your food. Gas prices are also insane so most of my tips go to the gas I used that day.

We only get part of the delivery fee. When I worked for Papa John’s, they charged $4.00 for delivery. We only got $1.20 of that. The rest went to pay insurance for the drivers. So people gladly pay for the pizza, pay the delivery charge, but somehow don’t have money to tip drivers. It’s bullshit. Driver’s have plenty of maintenance costs and gas to pay for their cars, which comes out of their pockets.

Well, the 75.00 meal vs the 20 meal option for a waitress actually should apply to a delivery person I think. A nice meal for two fits in a lil grocery bag easily carried, but when ordering lunches say from the office for 10+ people, Or if ordering several 2 litre bottles of soda with any size meals, I have seen drivers have to make multiple trips, carry big boxes of food up stairs etc….

Put a 5 inch box of 6 wings in a hot bag. Now take another hot bag and stuff in 4 extra large pizzas. Notice a difference in weight? Or try to deliver 20+ pizzas in 4 bags to a school sometime. Educate yourself before telling everyone the size of the order makes no difference.

Wow, hope you never order from my restaurant. First most of the time delivery drivers don’t get the delivery fee. Second the industry standard is $5.00 for orders under $50 or less and 15% for orders over $50. Third you seem oblivious to the fact that what you are paying for is the service and convenience of not having to leave the comfort of your home and have your food brought right to your door. What kind of Joviality do you expect from the delivery driver? Should they perform some kind of song and dance when you open your door? If you want to be so offensive with insulting tips then next time either cook your own food or place your order or take out and pick it up yourself.

One thing that I’ve heard in the past, (sorry I don’t have any facts to prove this) is that the deliverer does not get the fee. Because of this, I’ve always tried to tip at least 10% of the meal on top of whatever the delivery fee is. It’d be great if someone could confirm or deny this, because if the deliverer does not get the fee, then I would hate to stiff them on tip because I didn’t know any better.

I work as a delivery driver for pizza hut,we charge 2.29 delivery charge,I get 1.25 a trip i drive generally 4-10 miles a trip and yes that is 5.00 after 4 deliveries but you are not factoring my wear and tear on tires,seats from getting in and out,and weather sucks truly.I say if you can’t tip according do not order we do a lot more than you think we prep your food most of the time,we have to check and make sure you have all of your sauces and wants fufiled,I always go to my good regular tippers first no matter if you order 20 mins before them,they help me,the person that says keep the change is just going to insult me so why rush.If you do not want to tip according then drive and get yourself….that wait staff server did not use her personal equipment,and drive thru traffic risking an accident to bring you your food.So in lite if you want to be lazy and just relax at home you need to show that you appricate it,3.00 minimum for orders under 10,10-40 should be atleast 15%,and after that 10% after you tip 10.00 or more I get tipped accordingly by very few people but when I do I take care of them and offer them discounts and other freebies that I am not going offer someone who can’t even tip me to cover the cost to bring your food so,shame on anyone who doesnt 3.00 or more everytime

As a driver I get none of the delivery fee.I deliver in all kinds of weather.I don’t get why you think a servwr in the resyaraunt should get more because the walk 20 feet to deliver to ,while I drive through rain,snow and whatever to get your food to you,while your in your pj’s because yo don’t want to go out in the bad weather.
Then you say be careful you don’t slip on the ice or snow that you where to inconsiderate to clear.

I’m a delivery driver as well and can say the driver does not get the delivery fee that you are charged!!! Also you have to account for maintenence, tires, oil changes, tune ups, as well as the many many miles that are put on our personal cars that depreciate the value of the vehicle on top of GAS!!! And I have noticed that with the rising gas prices tips seem to be going downhill and which makes more and more nights lately a loss when it comes to having to put gas back in the car. And you can forget about making sure the car gets preventive maintenence, such as oil changes and tuneups, to prevent a major breakdown later!!!

So please be generous to the person who brings your food when you don’t want to leave your house to get it yourself!!!!!! Because in this economy quitting isn’t much of an option either when jobs are so hard to come by!!! And most of us have families and kids we have to support as well!!!!!

Yes we get a paid wage of about $6 a hour… That is below minimum. We depend on tips for any additional money. Keep in mind that AAA says that for the average car in 2012 it costs about 56 cents per mile. So when I drive 2 miles to your house, and then two miles back to work, I am already in the hole $2. If you tip me $2 I hardly brake even. Most people tip 75 cents or $1.

Always tip the delivery guy at least $2… At least! You are having someone come out to your house and deliver something for you. If you don’t want to spend the $2 or $3 on a tip, PLEASE USE YOUR OWN CAR AND GAS AND DRIVE TO THE RESTAURANT AND PICK IT UP YOURSELF.

DELIVERY GUYS DESERVE AT LEAST $2 IN TIPS. I say $3 is a “fair” tip with inflation and the economy the way it is. If that is too much, make the drive yourself and pick up your own food and don’t waste my gas and make me wear and tear on my car just to break even.

The delivery fee is absurd. That said there is no job that one can do that should be incapable of supporting oneself and ones family on. All employment is vocation. If one hits full time equivalent it had best be living wage.

I managed a Dominos, Papa Johns and other chains. The drivers are paid a little more than a waiter hourly and the rest is earned from thier tips. No delivery fee is given to them the delivery fee is to help cover thier hourly to reduce overhead. The mom and pop places are usually better for the drivers. However, one large mom and pop in a college town made thier drivers 1099 employees and they recieved the fee but they were also paying double taxes on it. And what these drivers do not realize is that there is a union for them to join and I have seen people join and trust me the cost is carried over to the consumer.

Most big name pizza chains charge a delivery fee, like $2 per delivery, and just give the drivers half of that per delivery. They also pay their drivers what waiter’s make. In Florida that’s $4.25 an hour when they are on the road and minimum wage when they are in the shop. So, if you where to include a $2 tip on a $20 bill the driver would make $2 tip+ $1 delivery charge + $2.12(if it takes him about a half an hour to get to your house and back to the parlor for another delivery) or about $10.75 per hour. After wear and tear on their vehicle and gas that doesn’t leave a whole lot for other expenses.

When I was driving in the late 90’s I was making over $15/hour consistently for 8 hours a day, five days a week. Gas was only $1.35 back then and I thought that was expensive. I can also remember back in the 70’s the Chinese food delivery guy complained because my parents only tipped him $1. Go figure. Gas .70/gallon and a new car $5000 bucks.

Pizza delivery companies gouge their customers and their employees equally. I haven’t had a pizza delivered in years and don’t plan on having one delivered in the future until fast food pizza chains start paying their drivers a decent wage again.

I was an Assistant manager at Dominos Pizza and I know for a fact that the “delivery fee” goes to the company NOT the driver. I’m pretty sure it actually says this on the box that the delivery fee is not a tip to the driver. However, its in small print and I don’t think many people know this so they assume it’s the tip for the driver when it isn’t. This causes confusion in customers so drivers tend to not get tipped m

I always tip MORE when I get food delivered. An average server walks your food from the kitchen to your table. The delivery person drives it to your house! (or apartment). I guess I only get delivery once or twice a year, so I consider it a Lazy Tax on myself that I am unwilling to go get food myself. I try to tip between 20% – 30%.

Being in Australia, I don’t tip at all.
I already paid for delivery so why would I pay for them completing their job.
They usually get a flat rate per hour for sitting around + $$ for every delivery they make.
I have seen some rates of $12 per hour + $2 for each delivery made.
I know of some people that used to take their University assignments with them to work while they sit around waiting being paid.
Its not bad for someone studying.

2- I think most chains get min. wage, but some drivers get less, like waitresses and whatnot, I get about 5-ish an hour(on salary, weird right? :P) and plus, unlike waitresses, we do dish out gas, maintenance, etc. so I’d say it’s more necessary

3- While I DO see your point, they get minimum wage or more, for still easy work, and aren’t driving their own car to bring you your food. So ultimately I’d say a tip isn’t necessary, but it’s the polite thing to do, for doing something so you don’t have to.

P.S. Regarding the “delivery fee,” I don’t know about local shops, but chains only give about $1-1.25 of the fee per delivery to the driver. We don’t have one but I still get a buck per, good for everyone 😛

to answer a few questions for you we get tipped because we drive our own cars,fuel,tires etc to your house to convinience you the customer,I am sorry but if you are that cheap go get it yourself honestly.We make your food a lot of times to.There is more than you know.Had cold food or slow delivery times,probably because you don’t tip and when you don’t tip we just don’t care because we are going if lucky break even bringing your food to you so I make them wait last always regardless of order sequence Up to an hour after order you want your food fast and hot.TIP YOUR DRIVER ACCORDINGLY 15% ALWAYS BUT A MIN. OF 3.00 DO NOT BE CHEAP BELIVE THE CHEAP ONES GET TALKED ABOUT THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE STORE DO NOT BE THAT GUY,MIGHT JUST GET SHACKIN POP OR SKIMPPY TOPPINGS JUST BECAUSE WE CAN AND PEOPLE WHO THINK LIKE THIS IN OUR EYES ARE SCUMBAGS AND WHEN WE GET STIFFED WE PUT YOUR NAMES AND ADDRESSES IN A BOOK TO REMEBER IF YOU TIP GOOD AND WHAT KIND TROUBLES WE HAVE HAD WITH YOU IN THE PAST.

Because the people that took your order and made your pizza get to stay in the store and do their job for minimum wage or more, while the drivers that have to go out on the road get paid less BECAUSE of anticipated tips. Drivers get $2-$4 less because they are tipped employees. If you don’t think it’s fair for you to “pay” employees because their bosses won’t, I’ll be the first in line to congratulate you – when you stop talking about it and DO something about it. I’m waiting…..

With restaurants or any sort of food deliver I would generally tip between 20-25% Here is why:

A) They are generally young students (either college or high school) and are probably using this job as a stepping stone to a better life and could undoubtedly use the excess cash.

and…

B) They are almost always using their own vehicles for these deliveries. When I was in college we would get stipend for gas mileage on deliveries, however, this wouldn’t take into consideration the depreciation of the car’s value, necessary repairs etc, etc…

@ This is a side note – but has anyone else noticed a correlation between pizza delivery drivers and drug abusers? I’m just saying – I’ve encountered it time and time again. Not saying they all are… but compared to the rest of the general public…. there seems to be a high correlation there.

Most store do NOT hire teenagers for delivery drivers. Some states do not permit teenage drivers to be out alone after dark simply to start. What the state permits aside, the store can be sued for damages if one of their drivers gets into an accident while driving.

My store’s delivery fee was instituted to pay for the new point of sale system.

I have had drunken college students literally jump onto the hood my car, and have had drunken men surround my car while out on deliveries.

The moment a waitress has to consider running someone over to ensure her safety we can talk about how I deserve a smaller tip than she does.

I have been around the pizza delivery business for some time and can positively confirm that drivers absolutely do not receive any portion of the delivery charge. The delivery charge is nothing more than a price increase, the money goes directly to the store.

In most states, drivers are paid subminimum wages and must rely on tips to bring them up to minimum wage level.

Pizza delivery drivers are not waiters. Drivers use their personal vehicles to deliver food and incur expenses for vehicle maintenance/insurance that waitstaff do not.

@G.E. Miller-I don’t know or care what your location is, but any correlation between delivery drivers and drug abuse is unique to your area. Most drivers are decent, hard working individuals.

You are incorrect about the pizza deliervery man not receiving the fee from delivery charges. It must be a local thing, because the driver himself told me that he does get the delivery fee, so anything he gets beyond that is his also. That said, if it is delivered hot and timely, I tip about $3.00 per order no matter how small or a little more than $15 percent.

So he isn’t incorrect it depends, most delivery drivers do NOT receive the delivery fee; I do not receive it and i work very hard. I get paid min wage, with no mileage reimbursement or anything like that, so when I get stiffed on tips yea… it gets under the skin, do I show it to the customer? Absolutely not; although I wish they would understand that driving food to their doorstep so they don’t have to through rain, sleet , snow isn’t very easy. Some of you people underestimate what we do, we do NOT just sit in the store waiting to make money , that may be true in Australia but you cannot make a comparison to here in the United States. Delivery drivers do dishes ,help prepare food and clean, not to mention risk their cars especially in nasty weather, so not tipping them and claiming ignorance on the delivery fee (ask, I will never talk about the delivery fee with a customer, but they can ask the store manager) I think is wrong. I have driven 10-15 miles for one delivery and didn’t get tipped. Bottom line is this, you guys tip waiters and waitresses they work hard, as do delivery drivers. We sacrifice our cars risk lives in inclement weather to get food to YOUR house when you do not feel like driving and picking it up. We give up a lot of money paying for gas etc and car maintenance (like i said most of the drivers don’t get mileage comp or maintenance comp). It is optional to tip but I still think it is rather rude on the part fo the customer to not tip the driver. Off rant.

Please educate yourself on the dynamics of pizza delivery. If a pizza has to be made over because of a mistake or if you live more than 8 to 10 miles from the store, yeah it’s gonna take a while. In 99.9% of the cases the driver has NO bearing on how long the delivery takes.

@Jess – First of all, delivery fees are not tips — they go straight into the stores back pocket. Secondly (and I’m not trying to minimize what waitresses do, I think they have respectable jobs) — but what makes it right to tip your waitress more than you tip the delivery driver, with all else equal?

Did the waitress use her gas and put wear and tear on her own vehicle to bring the food to your table? No – she walked. Did she risk her life to bring the food to your table? No – unless she was handling dangerous cutting utensils on a slippery floor. Does your waitress have to endure snow and rain to bring food to your table, at a time when EVERYONE wants food delivered? No. Please don’t snub us delivery drivers like that. We put just as much work, if not more, into delivering your food as a waitress does in bringing the food to your table.

Third, and I think someone pointed this out already…what’s the difference between bringing a steak to your table as opposed to a hamburger?

Pizza delivery is hard work (my husband was once one.) That said, my mom was a waitress for 50 years (right, 50!), and let me tell you they work much harder than pizza delivery service. You say they “walk” not drive? And you think that’s is harder than walking? Walking is damn tough on your feet, back, legss, etc. The wait person has to make a ton of trips to your table to serve you, keep your coffee, tea, hot and plentyful. Deal with more of this and that, take your insults or whatever. Get a kid’s seat for your child, pick up your dirty dishes, sometimes pick up your check, take it to the cash register, return your change. And be very pleasant, too boot. Then, if the cook doesn’t do the order right, the wait person catches hell. Try dealing with an ornery cook! If you complain to them, often they will slow down your order, etc., just to show you whose running the show. Come on now, food drivers work hard, but it’s not nearly the same as what a wait person has to do.

Sounds like your Mom is better at complaining than your Dad is. Not an atypical scenario. Everything you described as unpleasant about waitressing applies to delivery driving and delivery driving still has several things on top of it. Is waitressing easy work? No. Don’t confuse it for being harder than it is though.

@G.E. Miller – Delivery fees are not tips. Plain and simple. You should always tip for food delivery, regardless of any fees that go along with it.

The delivery fees were implemented in order to hide menu price increases in order to make everything else look artificially low. A good example of this is the Pizza Hut promotion in which you can get any pizza for $10.00. If you request it for delivery it suddenly turns into a $13.50 pizza. Bait and switch at its finest.

Bait and Switch is defined as advertising a price that is not attainable under any circumstances. A $10 pizza can be had for $10 (not including sales tax) for pickup and everyone knows stores charge for delivery. Therefore what you describe is NOT bait and switch.

@ Josh – I don’t doubt you. If I were a driver, I would not want to work for a company that charged a delivery fee – b/c ultimately, think I would get lower tips. If the business is going to charge the consumer more, they should just factor it in to their prices (especially delivery only pizza providers).

no its crazy to tip less. think about it like this at my restaurant we have to deliver out as far as 10 miles(20 miles round trip) and we only get a dollar. which means at the price of gas at 4 a gallon. we lose 3 dollars if we were to be stiffed….(and thats not including maitanence) and we are risking our safety… i suggest u tip atleast 5 bucks for delivery or 3 minimum

@G.E.Miller–The companies decided that adding a delivery charge, instead of raising their prices, would be more positive for their image. By doing so, they could legally advertise (what appear to be) lower prices on their menus. The customers believe they are getting a great deal. Problem is, customers are confused about tipping the driver because of the delivery charge. (Which, in reality, is really a price increase.)

Again, drivers do not receive ONE PENNY of the delivery charge.

@Bucksome Boomer—Delivery drivers ARE NOT WAITSTAFF. Pizza delivery is unique and most servers could never do the job. To outside observers, the job seems pretty simple, but that is simply not the case. However, if you tip, you are a valued customer. The drivers thank you!

I worked as a pizza delivery girl one summer during college, and I would hardly say the job is not “simple.” In my experience, any one who can drive and has some sense of direction can do it. Have you seen the prices for gas, insurance, etc. these days?! Tipping a few bucks barely covers that! If you’re so cheap that you can’t tip properly then just go pick up your own pizza. Yes, you pay for the pizza itself, but you also need to pay for the service that brings it to you… or you need to go get it yourself.

Or we can forgo the pizza because the delivery charge brings it to a comical rate and should enough people do so the pizza companies will remember that that “convenience” was offered to increase sales and consequently revenue for what is, at the end of the day, a hot open faced sandwich, at which point they will return to paying delivery drivers and offering free delivery.

I worked as a pizza delivery driver for 2 1/2 years. Then I worked inside for 2 years as a shift manager & a server(waitress).

Yes its true, the drivers do NOT get any of the delivery fee. What you are paying for is the box & supplies to deliver your food. It all goes to the company.

This was my biggest thing, no one knows about tipping for the delivery driver. The worst is the young & the old. The delivery driver does not get paid minimum wage. Its a tip paying job so the food companys pay them less per hour figuring they will make it up in tips. Then you have to report your tips so the tax man can have his share. Also everything is in the computer system.

None of the jobs were simple, & if it was busy & if anyone seen anyone standing around, they were in trouble. There is always something to do. Every hand is needed when it is busy.

Everyone takes orders on the phone, mostly the drivers. Your driver could take your order, deliver another order & be back to deliver your order. Servers are suppose to answer the phone too, but if their to busy with many tables they won’t. Which is kind of understandable because then they lose their good tips.

You don’t know what any job entails unless you actually do it yourself.

Its all been pretty much said in other responses, delivery drivers don’t just deliver the food. They are responsible for many things, they are the last one to double check your order, to make sure they have everything. They help in other areas. They count on your tip to add to their wages. Because they have to pay for everything on their car as, gas, insurance, maintenance, tires. If their car is not working & they don’t have another one to use, they are not working either.

So please tip your delivery driver, they appreicate it more than you know, because so much more comes out of their pocket. With gas prices as bad as they are, if you gave 15% or more, they would treat you well next time too.

BUT THE DRIVERS ALL DO BELIVE ME,DON’T TIP ME ONCE SHAME ON YOU,DON’T TIP ME AGAIN BELIVE YOUR KNOWN AFTER THAT AND WE WILL JUST WAIT FOR ANOTHER WHY YOUR FOOD SITS IN BAG ON A SHELF SO DO NOT TIP WE DON’T CARE WE HAVE A SYSTEM TO WEEN OUT YOU NON TIPPERS..GIVE YOU HORRIBLE SERVICE,BE RUDE,DO NOT SPEAK,COLD FOOD AND REALLY LONG WAIT TIMES WHILE WE ARE BSING AT THE LOCAL CORNER STORE WITH A FRIEND OR SUCH …..SO MY RECOMENDATION TO SOMEONE WHO DOES WANT TO TIP IS DON’T EXPECT MUCH AT ALL

As a former delivery driver, I ask you (or most of you) to please tip more. I echo the sentiments of the other drivers regarding the delivery fee. At my company, the delivery fee was $5.99 per order. I received $1.99 per order and NO salary per hour. So the tips meant everything.

The delivery fee is NOT a tip nor is it for the driver – plus the driver uses their OWN car and gas and their reimbursement rate is PALTRY – much lower than the standard IRS rate of .50 cents a mile. Our store it usually adds up to .20 -.34 cents a mile which is RIDICULOUS – this is stop and start driving and leaving your car running which much harder on your car than highway driving. This is 2010 NOT 1980 a minimum of $3.00 tip should be added or 20 percent whichever is greater. Larger orders are heavier expecially when it involves drinks. Delivery drivers don’t just deliver they do all duties in the store as well. No pizza place is going to be able to afford to hire one person for each task – all employees must multitask so labor can be kept to a minimum. ALSO, MOST PIZZA PLACES PAY LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE NOW AND SOMETIMES NO WAGES AT ALL – DRIVERS RELY ON TIPS. No one would do this thankless job if not for tips – try finding a waitrer/waitress or bartender to work for minimum wage only.

Why should I tip the pizza driver? I tip the waitresses for their service, but what does the driver actually do? He doesn’t interact with me, refill my drinks, or ANYTHING that a waitress does. All he does is move my pizza from point A to point B, which a freaking kindergartner could do. Seriously, why would anybody tip that?

I don’t care what reimbursement the store gives the driver BTW. Tips are NOT REQUIRED. If your reimbursement doesn’t cover your gas and repairs, that’s something you take up with your boss. If you don’t like it, tough. Better go find a new job pal. Don’t expect me to fix your car for you, that’s YOUR responsibility. I only tip for service that DESERVES to be tipped.

That’s a fine mentality to have, as long as you don’t mind not having the convenience of delivery. If not, then don’t tip. If you get everyone not to tip, then you will no longer have the convenience. Local shops can’t afford to keep up cars themselves, and chains just wont do it. Either that or prices will skyrocket. Either or.

in what state do kindergartners drive cars? the delivery driver does everything a server does in getting your food to you other then coming back to refill your drinks and clearing your table when your finished. however your server didn’t take money out of his pocket to bring your food across the dining room where your driver certainly did to put gas in the car he used to travel across town to get from point a to point b… just out of curiosity if its so simple a kindergartner could do it was it above your mentality level for you to go from point a to point b yourself?

Here is something for all of you who are lousy tippers or non tippers to think about. Your drivers WILL, most assuredly, remember you and the amount you tip. Most drivers are college age, and they have no allegiance to their bosses, nor do they have a lot of integrity when it comes to their job. If they feel slighted they have amazing power over you. In the post above, drivers have talked about making you wait for your delivery or getting you cold food.
But have you ever thought about bright eyed, devious little bastard who shows up QUICKLY with a nice HOT pizza and big smile, wishing you a nice evening – and delivers you a pizza onto which he has dripped his own urine or has added his own boogers; no extra charge. Do you think that that that hasn’t happened to you already? I would never do that, but I know a lot of drivers who would.

On the other hand, if you tip your drivers well, you can feel really good about yourself. I take 25 deliveries a day, or about 5,250 deliveries per year. If every person I deliver to (That would be YOU), tips me just an extra dollar or two over what they may have, I can earn up to another $10,500 per year! And all because my customers tip a couple of extra bucks! You tip an extra 2 dollars and it changes your life to the negative not one iota – but can literally pay for my college.

At my job our boss encourages us to tell him if anyone doesn’t tip us….if you didn’t tip me I would tell my boss and he would put you on the “do not deliver” list…then when you would have to come pick up your pizza with your own gas you would see why you should’ve tipped…and I hope that day there is terrential downpour and roadwork that you have to endure!!! LOL . You’re an ignorant idiot

You should tip because the service we provide is a conenience for you. If you don’t wish to tip, why not pick up your order? When you stiff us, you’re not only abusing the delivery service and screwing the driver over, you’re taking us away from customers who do tip. In conclusion, stop being a cheap twat and make the effort, a few buck won’t kill you and it will make drivers happy to take your order. Otherwise, I hop you like your pizza cold and your service crappy.

It is cruel that the staff (waiters/waitresses and delivery persons) have to depend on tips. A tip should be for exceptional service only and the staff should be properly compensated by their employer and those costs should be reflected in the price of the food. The current system leaves everything to the whims of the owner and customer.
What do you tip your waitress if she only showed up at your table 25 minutes after you got there and every bucket of beer took 20 minutes to come by after your having asked for it? My roommate and I paid 10% as we did not want to risk receiving equally bad service the next time or worse yet…
In Texas, our taxes are 8.25% and usually I just double that (16.5% of the bill and 15¼% of the bill with taxes). I do it so do not have to ferry around tip cards or even do any multiplication, just add the tip to itself and you’re done). But this means my $10 sandwich w/ drink and fries is actually costing me $12.48, i.e. I pay a 25% premium to eat out all the time.

What would you have to tip if you had a simple order that was just expensive and cost $150 for two people, it required the waitstaff to ask you what you wanted, bring it to you and fill up your glasses 2 times and you were in and out of the restaurant in 30 minutes? $23 seems excessive to me and I would dial down to wards 8-10% at this time ($12-$15). Is this unfair?

I’d say no, for a waitress. A delivery driver however, I guess it still wouldn’t be unfair, but we’re lucky to get a few bucks usually anyway, so even 12 dollars would make us dance down your driveway. 😛

First of all, for “Why Tip”, I just stated the delivery driver does all that a waitress and does and more. Check out http://www.tipthepizzaguy.com. The drivers do EVERYTHING in the the store before they leave it. That means take your order, make it, deliver it and then clean up afterwards. Second, to “fool” and every other person – try working a tipped profession and then do the math for what you suggest is a “fair” tip.

@Vittoria
You’re right I have never worked a tipped profession, and to be fair, I did say that it is atrocious (I said cruel) that someone low down on the wage scale would have to deal with the uncertainties of tips.

In the current social setup, doctors and some lawyers make hundreds an hour, as an engineer I make ~$35/hour with a Master’s degree and 5 years of experience and CEOs make thousands of dollars an hour. Accordingly, a relatively low skill and low entry barrier job would be paid lower. If I were to tip someone $25 for a $150 product (mind you, the person receiving the tip did not add anything of value to the product, the service yes but not the product) and their labour was distributed over say 3 customers during the 30 minutes, the effective rate of tip would be $150/hour!!!

Does one tip the UPS/FedEx/USPS delivery person too? I guess not because they have a salary and gas is paid for by the company… If these other employers can do it (pay decent enough wages), what prevents restaurants from doing it and pricing it in the cost of food? I’d be willing to add a few percent as tip for good service. The onus for paying the salary/wages lies not with the customer but with the employer. If my employer (engineering is considered part of the services sector) said I should depend on tips from the clients, I wonder how things would be…

The incentive is set up such that eating at home will be about 40% the cost of eating out not considering the waiting period and travelling costs… I have not included the rent and wages of the employees who will cook and serve either… But then again, the staff at the grocery stores probably have not been paid well enough. The responsibility is being transferred down to the consumer at all levels and that is not right.

It is a rarity in this business that any driver pulls down $150/hour. Even if the stars align and a driver gets a huge tip, it’s a once in maybe six months to a year that something that good happens.

If you believe that the onus should be on the employer, then I encourage you to support efforts to ban “tip-credit” in states where it’s practiced. Tip-credit is the law that allows employers to pay people in tipped occupations less than minimum wage. It used to be half the federal minimum, but in 1991 that wage was frozen in the law, so now waitstaff, bartenders, dealers at casinos, and drivers could legally be paid as little as $2.13 per hour.

You are bringing forth the mindset that it’s OK to punish the server because the industry doesn’t pay us adequately, because you feel a $25 tip on a $150 order translates into more money that you make with a master’s degree. Again, I echo Vittoria, drive a few miles in my car, do what I do, and it will disabuse you of the notions that we make too much money and that we don’t add value to the transaction.

@fool.figures you are an engineer-way to live up to the sterotype. I have know many engineers over the years and only one was an *OK* tipper and that was because she waited tables in thbe past. They are hard jobs(serving, & driving) that you obviously are not willing to do otherwise you would be eating a frozen pizza on your couch or drive to pick up your order…so STFU & tip at a minimum of $3 for a small order or 20-25% for larger orders. Or, here’s a novel idea:go get it yourself!

As others have said: driver never gets any of delivery fee, usually just a very small amt. for gas that does not go anywhere near the added wear put on their cars and in many cases does not even cover fuel. They work in the crappiest of weather, and do a lot more than drive your order. Please, show some appreciation if you are going to order delivery. I have not done the job for years now, but after a few years of it I can tell you that most would not last a week. They earn every bit of their tips! Don’t be a cheapskate please….

I personally don’t order delivery very often because I can’t afford the extra fee + tip….so I go get it most of the time.

If you cannot tip more than 2.50, go get the damn pizza yourself. I get minimum wage, don’t get any of the delivery fee and my car is being ripped to the ground. Some nights all my tip money goes to fill up my tank. Its hotter than hell in the shop busting our ass prepping food and cleaning everything for crap minimum wage and then have to go out in the crap weather drive all the way to your house and wait outside and put the pizza right in your hands then mosey on back to slave in the kitchen. Bottom line, we get paid nothing, if you cant tip go get it yourself. We dont get delivery fee

I did not say I do not tip or do not want to tip. I agree with Frost, but the momentum for removal of tip-credit has to come from those directly affected by it, at least the beginning. I will stand by those people when they do fight.

In Australia, the service charge is included to pay for the services and a tip is just that, a tip for a job well done. Tips should not be a replacement of just wages.

I am not saying that wait staff makes $150/hr either, but I would be paying them at that rate… kinda similar to the $200/hr for the plumber… also, higher wages encourage middle class people like me to do it myself and thereby reduce the amount of business available for the plumbers/electricians/carpenters and further drive up the cost of hiring one… but that is another topic…

Sorry for bruising anyone’s feelings… I just asked what an appropriate tip be for a fancy hotel, did not mean to rile y’all up…

I was very confused about service charge, so i thought it went to the driver. I called the restaurant and they told me it goes to the house, that charge is misleading. Poor delivery drivers, they must not be getting tipped much, I told the guy to come back and I will give him a tip. They should give the service charge to the drivers, because if you have to pay 2.50 for service charge plus tips it makes it not worth getting a delivery, when you can make the short drive to pick it up.

You should know that dine-in waiters and waitresses are only paid $2.01 an hour. They must submit their total sales to the government and the gov’t will automaticaly assume that the waiter received 15% in tips and now the waiter is taxed on that income. A driver does not have this same rule. They simply drive and drop off. I have Lunch & Learns for clients and sometimes the food bill is $200. No way am I going to pay $35 or $40 for delivery. $5-$10 max. The restaurant already pays this guy.

For anyone curious as to what the mysterious “delivery fee” is for, I actually decided to ask around about it. Apparently the general “explanation” is that it is to cover rising fuel costs for the delivery of ingredients etc etc to the store, not for the delivery of your pizza to your door. You’d think they could come up with a better name, but then people would throw a hissy fit about it, instead of thinking of it as an “insta-tip” if you will.

15% is NOT a good rate for a tipping a server!!! 18% is used as the minimum tip, because that is what an average tip should be! For great service, 20%, for exceptional service above 20%, for not so great service, under 18%. Speaking as a server myself, this is what is understood by those who serve tables. Keep in mind, our wages are a fraction of normal hourly wages. Minimum wage for servers in Ohio, for instance, is 3.70 an hour. Not really making bank with that….

The standard tip rate is still 15%. 25 years ago it was 10%. Now restaurants will charge 18% on large parties to make sure the server does not get stiffed. As for tipping drivers, 2-3 bucks; the bill total is irrelevant.

I used to work in the restaurant biz years ago so I understand the servers wanting to push the tip rate higher. But with restaurants continually raising their prices, to keep raising the tip fee will only force patrons to go to the drive thru restaurants and do away with the tip all together.

the bill total is relevant for taxes, 8% of your check total will be considered taxable income whether the driver gets that 8% or not. an example would be a $150 check would result in the driver paying more taxes on the tip then you even tipped. and then still have to put gas back in the car

I work part time as a pizza delivery driver. It is absolutely Horrible. I have been doing it since May, and the only reason that I still do it is because I need the extra money. All and all especially within the last few months, I doubt I have even made minimum wage. They pay us something like 5.50 an hour, and we get 1.50 per delivery (which is also taxed) They charge a 2.50 delivery charge, but we don’t get any of that at the end of the night. The guy who runs the place is a Bipolar asshat. To begin with the guy schedules way to many drivers per shift. He puts like 6 drivers on a Wed night?? His thoughts are that the more driveries he has, the more people will order from us. I don’t know what planet he’s living on. Let’s take last night for instance. I was scheduled to work from 5-9, but it was so slow (as it’s been for the last couple months), that I ended up getting off at 7:30. I took 3 deliveries, and they totaled to almost 10 dollars. I drive a 1999 Ford Explorer, so it takes me about .25 cents to drive each mile. A lot of times, we get people that live 7 miles ordering pizza from us. So if someone lives 7 miles there, and I have to drive 7 miles back, thats 14 miles (3.50) is what that costs me. Now, when they only give me 2 dollars, that means it costs me to deliver pizza to them. Yep, I actually have to PAY to go to work. It really pisses me off because the owner doesn’t even care. Also, within the last 3 months, I have had to put about $2,000.00 dollars worth of work in my truck. New Radiator, COMPLETE brake job including rotors, brake lines, freeze plugs, alternator, tune up, oil changes. They don’t pay for any of that, and my truck never needed any of these things before I started delivering Pizza, and I’ve had it for four years. Anyway, If I could find a better Part time job than I would, but it’s real slim pickings around here. Sorry about the long post, but I needed to let off a little steam to some of these people I see writing about how it’s “wrong” to tip the pizza guy. Thank You for listening.

He overschedules drivers because he essentially does not pay for drivers. Once in a blue moon the customer might benefit(without knowing it) but the drivers lose. It is simply an attempt to grab more business without paying for it. hence the observation of some that tip based employment should change.

I’ve been a delivery driver now for approximately six months, and I want to clear up a few misconceptions:

1.) The “delivery fee”. Some places charge a fee. Others do not. Of those who do charge a fee the percentage of that fee that goes into a driver’s pocket will range anywhere from 0% – 100%. I work for a company that contracts with dozens of other restaurants to provide drivers for their establishments in exchange for a cut of their sales. My employer charges a $5.75 standard minimum delivery fee (higher for larger-ticket and/or far-flung orders) . Of that we drivers receive $3.00, and the balance goes to the business owner to cover other costs. I was aghast to see someone upthread say they don’t tip their drivers because “that’s what the delivery fee is for.” Not necessarily. That driver you stiffed could very well receive NOTHING, meaning they were out-of-pocket to make your delivery when you factor in fuel and wear/tear on their vehicle.

2.) Not every delivery driver receives an hourly wage. Not every delivery driver receives fuel or mileage reimbursement. In my case I receive that $3.00 per delivery and then rely upon tips alone. I’m not considered an “employee” (no W-2) but rather am an independent contractor. 100% of my income needs to reported for tax purposes. Fortunately we deliver generally to upper-middle-class neighborhoods, and many of our order totals exceed $50. With that being the case I average $5/delivery in tips—some people tip less (generally no less than $2) and some people tip more (generally no more than $8). Given our wide delivery area I typically average two deliveries per hour. If I were to have two average tips, then I’d be making $16/hr., on average ($3 delivery fee x 2 deliveries = $6) + ($5 tip per delivery x two deliveries). Out of that $16/hr. will come taxes, maintenance/depreciation of my vehicle, and gasoline. I’m lucky in that I still come out ahead of most generic pizza delivery personnel, but it’s not like I’m becoming affluent from this.

3.) It’s difficult to compare servers and delivery drivers. BOTH work very fastidiously to serve their clientele in the most expeditious manner possible. Servers have to clean up after patrons, refresh beverages, and feign interest in idle banter to built a better rapport to yield a higher gratuity. Delivery drivers are subjected to inclement weather, risk of accident/personal injury, wear/tear of their vehicles, and even the potential for being the victims of crime. In September 2011 I was broad-sided by a woman in an SUV who sped through a red light. She totaled my vehicle, and to this day I still have neck pain that’s unresolved because I didn’t seek follow-up medical treatment because I can’t afford health insurance. Last night I had a mentally unstable man accost me for parking in “his” own personal on-street parking space while making a delivery. I genuinely felt threatened. There have been numerous muggings in one neighborhood we consistently deliver to as well. This isn’t factoring in how many times I’ve nearly been bitten/trampled by customer’s dogs on their front porches, either. To imply that servers are hard workers while delivery drivers are lazy is quite erroneous. We BOTH bust our tails—just in different ways.

I’m always happy to receive a tip—ANY tip. I’m just beyond flabbergasted that there are so many morons within this thread who don’t tip because:

a.) It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to bring me food.
b.) I already paid a delivery fee.
c.) It’s not MY responsibility to compensate someone for something their employer should already be compensating them for anyways.
d.) Delivery personnel don’t work as hard as servers.

How many of you who selected one or more of those options above have ever actually worked for tips? Just curious. I’m a college-educated male who has been unable to establish himself in his career of study due to this recession. I may not love what I do, but I always do it to the best of my ability (and then some). Working this job, though, has taught me how ugly so many people can be on the inside.

As a delivery driver myself I couldn’t have said it better!!! In this economy it’s difficult to pick and choose means of income!!! And having to pay for gas, wear & tear, tires, oil changes, and depreciation factors to name a few of a list that seems never ending takes up most, if not all, of whatever tips we make!!!

amen as am I my friend people don’t really try to understand…. we chose our professions/fields of study, we cannot help what our economy does. I am a driver in new york that does not receive any type of comp I get min wage (7.25) and otherwise rely on tips ( and I do work in the store as well, most customers tip there are those however that do not , lately it has been no tips at all, working 7 hours take 11 deliveries to make only 35 dollars (thats just enough to cover the gas I used).

I agree, also keep in mind that delivery drivers NEED to have business car insurance. Since they are using their car for work they can’t use just their regular car insurance, they have to pay sometimes up to $1200 more a year just to have the ability to be covered while they work.

My motto is that if you are too cheap to tip at least $3, than go and pick up your own dang food. I don’t want to deliver to you if I don’t get at least $3 which will reimburse me for the gas/wear and tear on my car/and business driving insurance.

Tonight I got a pizza delivery for the first time in years. I didn’t know what was appropriate to tip. I didn’t even want the delivery in the first place. I responded to a promo from Dominoe’s by ordering a pizza online for $7.99. It was supposed to be carryout for that price. I always get carryout anyway.

Well, after I placed the order, a gal called me and said that their lobby closed at 10PM for safety reasons. It was probably 10 minutes past 10PM. This meant I couldn’t pick it up. However, she said… they would deliver it without the usual delivery charge if I wished. I said OK. I decided to give 2 bucks for a tip. I have learned a lot after reading all this, and now I am made to feel guilty for only giving $2.

A lot of you say if I can’t afford to tip $3 then go get it myself. Well… that’s what I’ve been doing, but I wasn’t allowed to in this case.

I think you drivers are getting the short end of the stick, but I think you should blame the owners, the corporate bosses and the system more than you blame the customers. Most customers don’t know all of the details of what you go through and the expenses you incur in the performances of your job. If they don’t tip at all, that’s one thing. But if they don’t tip enough…. they probably don’t realize that it’s not enough.

Basically if you decide to go out to eat, drink or get your food delivered you should usually pay upwards of 20% or more if necessary. I generally tip that much even if I order something to go, no doubt someone has already stiffed them that day. If you don’t have money to tip then go to the grocery store!

Just an FYI–servers also don’t keep the entire tip you leave at the table. They have to tip out to all of the support staff so they are not pocketing that $20. I’ve worked as a server where I’ve had to tip out generally 28 to as much as 40% of the tips I make during a shift to the bussers, bartenders, runners, oyster shuckers etc…

TIP SHARE SUCKS. how do you know someone isn’t pocketing some cash before turning it into the “pot” or whatever. Bad tips because of nasty attitudes from some waitresses shouldn’t not effect me in any way shape or form. and her get some of my tip that I earned..heck no. I hate tip sharing…I would much rather do all the work myself for each table, and tip my bussers something at the end of the night.

I really don’t get what’s so hard about paying for convenience… I just ordered a pizza and a 2-liter of soda, because I had a promo my pizza and soda were free. I’m at work, and don’t really have the time to go down and pick my order up come lunch time, so I opted to have it delivered instead. So I incurred a $1.99 delivery charge, knowing that most companies will pocket that charge (even if they don’t) I added the tip to my credit card, and I tipped $3.00 that’s a 150.75% tip in-case some of you can’t do the math… but it’s also a decent minimum tip. I considered the shop is 3 miles down the road, that’s a 6 mile round trip. Gas prices are over $3 a gallon. Now let’s throw in convenience fees, I don’t have the time to make it down to the store wait in a lunch line, make it back to my office and eat. That $3 is well worth it!

That being said, I’ve ordered pizza at home and didn’t have a vehicle to go and pick it up. I ordered 5 pizzas and some wings… the order came up to over $50 again I had the delivery fee, I tipped the driver at least 25%, I gave him an additional $20 and told him to keep the change on the rest. Not saying that everyone should tip high, but geez stop being such cheap skates and TIP!

I wouldn’t want to work as a delivery driver, I avoided those kind of jobs like the plague! I don’t think a job is worth risking my personal safety over, or getting paid crap and treated like crap from both employer and customer. When it comes down to it you really have to consider, would you want to walk a day in their shoes? I highly doubt most the people who are complaining about tipping really would.

On a side note since I didn’t touch on it… I don’t think you should tip your waiter/waitress more than you tip your delivery driver. I think they both require an equal amount of work and humiliation, if my order isn’t right I complain in either case, so both my server and my delivery person really get to hear a complaint.

A delivery person has an equal amount of responsibility to ensure that my order is delivered on time as my server has to make sure my needs are met in a timely manner. If anything I am more understanding when my food takes longer than it should at a restaurant when I can clearly see they are busy, verses when I have it delivered and I only see that the delivery driver pulled up late. I have no comparison on if the store was really busy or if the driver was just ill prepared to find my address.

I am just as apt to joke with a server as I am to joke with a delivery person… if they can get me to smile hey props to them, and in my experience a delivery person is just ever so slightly more friendly and more apt to make me laugh while I’m pulling out the cash or signing the receipt.

THIS. I agree wholeheartedly with this. I’m paying for them to let me be lazy and not get out of my pajamas. I’m paying for them so be in a cold car when the roads are icy so I don’t have to. It’s kind of weird and greedy thing, so compensate appropriately.

The places I normally order from are about 1/2-1 1/2 miles from my house. I would just get it myself but I don’t have a car. I normally tip $1-2, more if the weather is bad, this comes to about 10% of the order. I see this as being sufficient. As I’ve posted in other blogs about waiting tables and the like; if you don’t like what you are making stop doing it. Yes jobs are hard to find but I didn’t force you into that profession.

I once put the wrong address in-north instead of south on a street, but it didn’t end up being really that far away, so the dude got it to me anyway. He ended up getting almost a 100% tip but he deserved it. I’m the one who messed up the order. Usually I do 20% and round up to the nearest dollar but it’s been more on occasion since I always pay with a card, so that’s usually not quite as good as cash. Don’t be cheap, cheapskates!

Oh plus, the delivery driver sometimes has had to deal with weirdness as my dog is trying to run out the door as I’m trying to pay.

I’m a delivery driver in GA, and we do not get any part of the delivery fee. So yes on certain trips, we get absolutely nothing when someone doesn’t tip. And they are the people who I go to last. I drive my own car, we don’t get company vehicles. Our job is not the cakewalk that many people make it seem to be. Before I became a driver I tipped delivery drivers a minimum of $5. And now that I know all that the job entails, depending on distance I will go over that. Why would anyone not want to treat the person right that is handling their food?! If tipping the driver is out of the question for you because you assume we get a fee, we do not by the way, that was added to your billl then you are sadly mistaken. If you can’t tip, get into your car and go get your own food. For those on here who do tip, we appreciate you!

I have worked as both a delivery driver and a server. Lets not act like a larger order impacts how much you work when it comes to delivery. So you have to make sure you have a few more sauces, as if thats hard to do. Now I could understand if the order is outragous and you do actually have to take alot more time to take care of things, creating maybe less deliveries than yes your tip should be larger, maybe 10.00 to 15.00 max. But you should never make tips like a server you are paid more per hour and you do not pay taxes based on the amount of the bill like you do as a server. Example 1 table 1 hour- 50.00 bill and you get a 5.00 tip=6.00 per hour after taxes and quite possibly you have to tip out. 1 delivery 1 hour- 50.00 bill 15 min distance 5.00 tip=about 10.00 an hour if you factor gas and portion of delivery fee if the place you work at pays you a portion. You did not have pay taxes on bill and you get paid more per hour and you only have to visit one time and oh by the way you get to relax for the next 15 minutes while you drive back and from what I know youre probably smoking something to relax too. Not a bad gig. If you have a prob with ruining your car then your driving the wrong vehicle.

all tipped employees who are paid via “tipcredit” aka “server wage” including drivers are required to claim a min of 8% of the total check, if the they are not claiming the proper amount they are risking being audited. lager orders do impact drivers the same as servers in the respect of taxes

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